UCF football coach George O'Leary, who has led the Knights to their greatest success but irked many fans, is on the verge of signing a two-year contract extension that would run through the 2017 football season. UCF athletics director Todd Stansbury told the Orlando Sentinel UCF Athletics Association is close to wrapping up O'Leary's revised contract that would expire in early 2018. O'Leary has three years remaining on his current deal, but the school is set to tack on two more years to ensure that the 66-year-old coach remains in Orlando for the foreseeable future.

KEY BISCAYNE — This time last year, Mike Aresco led a conference without a logo and a recognizable identity as the newly minted American Athletic Conference. The league faced the departure of Louisville and Rutgers and introduction of three schools. All this, of course, came after the infamous Catholic 7 men's basketball teams left and took the Big East name on their way out the door. And that covers just a slice of the conference realignment drama that plagued the American, which also had to adjust after the departure of Notre Dame and Boise State.

ORLANDO - Don Jonas , the Knights' first football coach, is among the group of people set to be inducted in the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame April 12. Dan Burke (football), Justin Pope (baseball), Lou Cioffi (men's soccer) and the 2003 cheerleading team will join Jonas as new Hall of Fame members during a ceremony at Bright House Networks Stadium. "This is an exceptional class that exemplifies what being a Knight is all about," UCF athletics director Todd Stansbury said in a news release.

The city of Orlando officially announced it will host the American Athletic Conference basketball tournament in 2016 and 2017 at the Amway Center, bringing another major college event to the downtown area. Orlando hosted a NCAA tournament regional in March, marking the first time in 10 years the city had staged the event. Prior to those NCAA second- and third-round games, only three college teams - UCF, Florida and Stetson - had played at the new Amway Center. Now, the city will twice host a four-day tournament featuring 11 teams from the American Athletic Conference, the one-year-old league that includes hometown team UCF. "I'm pleased to be here to celebrate another big win for our community," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said at a press conference at Amway Center.

UCF is losing one of its most successful coaches. Amanda Cromwell, who led the Knights to five conference tournament titles, four regular season conference titles and 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, is leaving UCF to take over as the head coach at UCLA. She has posted a 203-83-26 record since taking over the women's soccer program in 1999, including a run women's soccer's Elite Eight. Before taking over at UCF, Cromwell was the head coach at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – UCF athletics director Todd Stansbury wants to see the Knights keep playing on the national stage. The Knights played at No. 14 Ohio State Saturday. The game was broadcast on ESPN2 . UCF enjoyed being part of the big-time college football stage. "That's where we want to be," Stansbury said after the Knights' 31-16 loss to the No. 14 Buckeyes. "Our team would have loved to walk out of here with a win, but you have to proud of the way this team didn't quit.

Tulane and East Carolina will be joining UCF in the Big East Conference . The Big East has now snagged six current Conference USA members to rebuild a league that has been rocked by ongoing conference realignment. The Green Wave will be joining the Big East in all sports, while the Pirates will be joining in football only. Both schools will make the move in 2014. UCF athletics director Todd Stansbury said in a radio interview Monday the Knights remained committed to the Big East.

UCF President John Hitt isn't making the same mistake twice. Hitt said he regrets not calling in high-power former NCAA investigator Michael Glazier earlier to help him swiftly address the Knights' potential rules infractions that first surfaced in April 2011. The NCAA has since determined UCF flagrantly violated recruiting rules. The Committee on Infractions specifically admonished former UCF athletics director Keith Tribble and former wide receivers coach David Kelly for lying to investigators.

UCF will play a home-and-home series with Maryland in 2016 and 2017. The news, which was first reported by the Washington Times, was confirmed by UCF athletic director Todd Stansbury Saturday before the Knights home game against Southern Miss . "We do have a series set up with Maryland," Stansbury said. "I think it's just another great opportunity for UCF to play a traditional BCS -type program. A one that has a long history. " It will be the first time that both schools have met on the football field.

UCF is going to play in a familiar bowl venue. The bigger question is who the Knights might play in the postseason, with the list of potential opponents including some Sun Belt teams. If UCF beats Tulsa in the Conference USA championship, the Knights will play in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis . UCF beat Georgia in the 2010 Liberty Bowl. If UCF loses to Tulsa in the C-USA title game, the Knights will play in the Beef 'O' Brady Bowl in St. Petersburg. UCF lost to Rutgers in the 2009 bowl game.

When UCF coach George O'Leary finished introducing the entire football team in front of a packed CFE Arena on Wednesday night, he paused. "This is a BCS champion right here," he said. The estimated crowd of 9,000 roared. O'Leary arrived at UCF a decade ago and said he did not want to build a top-25 team, but a top-10 program. By early Tuesday morning, that vision was complete, thanks to a 52-42 Fiesta Bowl win over Baylor on Jan. 1. On Wednesday, UCF fans started to gather hours before the pep rally on campus to celebrate the Knights' unprecedented season and Bowl Championship Series victory.

Kathy Ozerities tried to catch her breath before the buses pulled up. She'd been running and fist-pumping a sign over her head with the number 38 on it in honor of her son, UCF defensive back Jordan Ozerities. "I couldn't go to Arizona, but watched at my sister's house," said Kathy Ozerities of Mount Dora. "I fell asleep on the couch, and they said I woke up with my arms over my head in the touchdown position. " She was among hundreds of fans and family members who stood in the rain Thursday outside Wayne Densch Sports Center on the UCF campus to welcome the Knights home from Glendale, Ariz., after their historic 52-42 Fiesta Bowl victory over Baylor.

The plans were first hatched early in the season. A Bowl Championship Series game was the ultimate goal for UCF, and so Stephanie Vlahos, a 24-year-old alumna, started to think about where she might follow the Knights. By early December, Vlahos had plans to drive to either Miami or New Orleans for the Orange or Sugar Bowl on a $500 budget. Then Northern Illinois lost to Bowling Green in the Mid-American Conference title game Dec. 6. It meant UCF was bound for the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

DALLAS - UCF started its football program in 1979, and in the last 10 years jumped from one conference to the next in hopes of becoming a true player on the national scene. The Knights climbed the ladder from the Mid-American Conference to Conference USA and finally to a Bowl Championship Series league, the American Athletic Conference. They arrived just in time for the league's final season with an automatic BCS bid. UCF only needed that one year. The 16th-ranked Knights (11-1, 8-0 AAC)

UCF President John Hitt trumpeted the Knights' invitation to join the Big East on Dec. 7, 2011, as one of the most important days in the school's athletic history. The conference was in the midst of renegotiating a lucrative television contract that was poised to pump millions of dollars into University of Central Florida Athletics Association coffers, finally helping the Knights compete with college football's powerhouse programs. Hitt recalled hearing UCF could get anywhere from $12 million to $20 million annually, a massive jump from about $1.5 million a year it collected in Conference USA. Less than two years later, the Big East fell apart, and UCF's share of television revenue is just $2 million annually.

UCF is poised to begin a new era Monday. The Knights will leave Conference USA and officially join the new American Athletic Conference. The new league, formerly known as the Big East, has survived a tumultuous two years during which it bled members and saw television revenue drop precipitously. The American Athletic Conference held on to newly minted members UCF, Houston, Memphis and SMU. It will soon be adding East Carolina, Tulane, Tulsa and Navy. Ultimately, the American will have a chance to grow with the help of a media contract with ESPN that may not bring a mega payday but provides enhanced national exposure for new members.

The NCAA won't rule on UCF 's postseason ban appeal until at least Jan. 24, making the Knights eligible for the postseason, a source close to the football program told the Orlando Sentinel today. The NCAA does not impose punishment during pending appeals. As a result, the Knights are eligible to compete for a Conference USA title and appear in a bowl game. If the NCAA appeals committee upholds the postseason ban, UCF would be forced to sit out the postseason during the 2013 season, its first year in the Big East . UCF coach George O'Leary confirmed the news during his weekly press conference around noon.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH — The American Athletic Conference wrapped up its spring meetings Wednesday, inching closer to key decisions about the new league's future. Commissioner Mike Aresco said the conference is close, a week or two away, from unveiling its new logo and marks, and is also a few weeks out from naming sites that will host the men's and women's basketball tournaments. Memphis' FedEx Forum is favored to host the men's tournament, while the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., is favored to host the women's tournament.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH — The American Athletic Conference wrapped up its spring meetings Wednesday, inching closer to key decisions about the new league's future. Commissioner Mike Aresco said the conference is close, a week or two away, from unveiling its new logo and marks, and is also a few weeks out from naming sites that will host the men's and women's basketball tournaments. Memphis' FedEx Forum is favored to host the men's tournament, while the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., is favored to host the women's tournament.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH — American Athletic Conference presidents agreed on how to split lucrative Big East exit fees and postseason credits that reportedly could be near $100 million. League officials declined to reveal how much each school would receive, but UCF athletics director Todd Stansbury said in an exclusive interview with the Orlando Sentinel the schools previously in the Big East would receive about 60 percent of the revenue while the newcomers would split about 40 percent.